Allstate Retiree Life Lawsuit

Allstate Strips Retirees of Life Insurance Benefits

In July 2013, former Allstate employee agents received notification from the company that their Allstate Retiree Life Insurance Benefit would be discontinued effective December 31, 2015. Many active Exclusive Agents were affected by the decision – including some whose employee status abruptly ended in 2000 as part of the infamous “Preparing for the Future” reorganization. Agents were not the only group affected; the company also eliminated the life insurance benefit for other retirees who left the company after 1989.

According to the Summary Annual Reports for the Allstate Corporation Life Insurance Plan for Former Non-Claim Employees for the plan year ending December 31, 2009, the total cost of the program was less than $2 million – an insignificant fraction of the $1.143 billion the company earned in the first half of 2013.

Just when this group of agents and employees are at their most vulnerable, the company decided to break a decades-long promise, leaving them with few affordable options; workers who built this company, kicked to the curb in what appears to be a minuscule expense in a sea of profits.

“These individuals made financial decisions based on their overall retirement benefits. In this case, individuals were led to believe this benefit would provide lifetime coverage,” said Jim Fish, executive director of NAPAA. “Based on that belief, many folks dropped other policies or abstained from buying additional coverage because they determined the company-provided coverage was sufficient.”

On September 23, 2013, a 32-year Allstate veteran filed suit against Allstate in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Alabama. Garnet Turner, who retired from Allstate in 1995 is represented by Heninger Garrison Davis LLC of Birmingham, Ala. The case is Turner v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2:13-cv-00685-MEF.

In 2015, the Court combined another case from Florida (Klaas v. Allstate) with the Turner action.

NAPAA has provided this notice for informational purposes only. The contents of this notice should not be construed as legal advice or an endorsement from NAPAA or its attorneys, and NAPAA expressly disclaims any such advice.